Ireland issues travel bans for two Israeli ministers

Travel bans on Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, are being introduced by the Irish justice minister, Jim O’Callaghan, the Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin has confirmed.

Ben-Gvir is the Israeli national security minister and Smotrich is the minister for finance.

Last month, France announced it had banned Ben-Gvir from entry for a video mocking bound activists seized by Israeli soldiers on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

The US, the UK, France, Italy and Canada were among the countries which expressed outrage. Ben-Gvir’s actions also drew criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said they were “not in line with Israel’s values”.

Last year, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich had sanctions imposed by the UK, Australia, Norway, Canada and New Zealand for “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities”.

They were both banned from entering the UK and any assets were to be frozen.

It marked the first time Israeli ministers had been sanctioned by Western governments.

The then Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said Finance Minister Smotrich and National Security Minister Ben-Gvir had “incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights”.

On Friday Martin told the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Montenegro that the Israeli ministers’ actions and words “amount to a desire to see the elimination of Palestinians from Palestine”.

He said he believes that there should be further EU measures introduced against them, Irish broadcaster RTÉ has reported.

France, Spain and Italy have called on the EU to sanction Ben-Gvir.

“That’s again something that the international community needs to take on board and we will be pursuing that with others,” Martin added.

“In my view, their behaviour justifies sanctions at EU level as well, and that’s something that we will raise, whether we can get sufficient support across the European Union is a different matter.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Irish justice minister said the travel bans on the two Israeli ministers are in place after they were agreed by the Irish government outside of a cabinet decision this week.

It added that the minister has “instructed immigration officers to refuse entry to Itamar Ben-Gvir the minister for national security of Israel, and Bezalel Smotrich, the minister for finance of Israel, should they seek to enter”.

The move to ban Ben-Gvir and Smotrich comes as Israel carried out another air strike in Gaza, despite the US-brokered ceasefire deal which took effect last October.

The Israeli military said the strikes killed four senior members of Hamas’s General Security Apparatus.

Israel has accused Hamas of rearming and rebuilding its forces.

The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 72,950 people have been killed, according to the territory’s health ministry.